Romans 6:3-4

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. -Romans 6:3-4

---

Jesus took our spot.  Imagine being arrested for the crime, but someone else went to jail for you.  Or a better example would be you did something that broke school rules, but instead of getting suspended, someone else took your spot and was suspended in your place.

That’s what it means when the Apostle Paul writes that we are “baptized into his death.”  Our sins and our trespasses against God deserve death and instead of us dying, Jesus died in our place.

But God’s love for us doesn’t just end there.  Not only did Jesus take our place, but he also gave us the power to live the life that we were meant to live.  He gives us new life.

As you reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice and gift, may it produce in you a sense of gratitude.

Romans 6:1-2

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? -Romans 6:1-2

---

There were people back in the day who twisted God’s truth.  They basically said that we should sin MORE because when we sin there is more for God to forgive thereby giving God more glory.  That’s messed up thinking right there.

It’s like saying I should disobey my parents more so they can forgive me more and be better parents.  That’s ridiculous logic.  Good parents would raise their children to obey authority.

Therefore, we truly give God glory when we allow God to transform our hearts and help us live out a godly lifestyle.

How do you know if you’re transformed?  The Apostle Paul who wrote Romans tell us here.  He writes that we are transformed when we are dead to sin.  In other words, we don’t desire to sin anymore.  What used to be a temptation no longer tempts us because we have died to that sin.  It doesn’t have any power over us.

When I was younger, abusing alcohol was definitely a huge temptation and a struggle.  But as I matured in my faith, that desire to drink and get drunk began to disappear.  And now I don’t even have the desire to drink.  That’s being dead to sin.

Be patient with God.  He is changing you and transforming you.  You’ll know when things that use to tempt you become less and less tempting.  Before you know it, you’ll wonder why you even desired that sinful thing to begin with.

Romans 5:18-19

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. -Romans 5:18-19

---

We are powerless without Jesus.  The fall of humanity and the salvation of humanity both exist outside of our control.  The passage tells us that we are born with sin and there was nothing we could have done to prevent it.  The spiritual disease started by Adam has passed down to us.  It’s as much a part of us as being born Asian or whatever race our parents were.  We have no control.

Likewise, the cure for our disease is also beyond us.  There is nothing we can do to bring about it.  Only solely through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are we free from the bondage of sin.

The truth of our powerlessness is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith.  Only when we recognize our inability to control our lives can we then begin to surrender to the one who does have control—God.

Do you recognize your own powerlessness?  This is the beginning of your Christian faith.

Romans 5:17

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! -Romans 5:17

---

Jesus is the better Adam.  Adam was created by God but he rebelled against God and brought sin into the world.  Jesus is the better Adam who obeyed God and brought salvation to the world.  Adam brought death to the world and Jesus brings life and revival.

As people, we get to choose who we follow.  Will we follow Adam in his disobedience and death or will we follow Jesus in his obedience and life.  This is a choice we make every single day and every single moment of our lives.

Will you choose Adam or Jesus?

Romans 5:12-14

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. -Romans 5:12-14

---

Sin is not just something that we do, but it is a corruption of our desires from the moment we are born.  This passage is underscoring the theological concept of “original sin.”  Original sin refers to Adam and Eve’s disobedience which brought sin into the world.  Ever since then, the corruption of their disobedience has infected everything, including you and me.  Think of it as a disease that we are all born with.  That’s sin.

In Christianity, we believe the only cure for this spiritual disease is the Cross.  When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he healed us of our spiritual illness.  Our desire for sin is slowly being transformed to a desire for God.

Understanding our spiritual disease only makes us appreciate more our spiritual cure—Jesus Christ!  May you grow in gratitude for what Jesus has done and is still doing for you and me.

Romans 5:9-11

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. -Romans 5:9-11

---

“Enemy” is a strong word.  There might be people we don’t like or get along with, but very few of us would use the word “enemy.”  When we think of “enemy” we think of terrorists or others who have committed great offenses against us.  Yet, “enemy” is the word the Apostle Paul uses to describe what our relationship with God was prior to following Jesus.

It’s weird to think that we were once God’s enemy.  We’re not THAT bad.  It’s not like we killed people or committed genocide.  That’s bad.  Those people should be God’s enemy.  But we’ve lived a pretty moral life.  Why should God consider us his enemy?

If you think this way, it’s only because you don’t understand the horror and the gravity of sin.  Anything that we do or think that is contrary to what God wants for us is a grave offense.  The problem is that for many of us, we don’t see it as a big deal.  We don’t think our sins or our shortcomings are that bad at all because we don’t have a proper view of sin.  We’ve grown too comfortable with sin.  We’ve learned to co-exist with it.

But God can NEVER co-exist with sin.  And because He is perfect He must not tolerate any sin in His presence.

So God has a problem.  He loves and wants to be close to us, but He can’t tolerate sin.  So what does He do?  He removes our sin from us through His son Jesus.  Jesus took on our sin so that we can be close to God again.  We were once God’s enemy because of our sin, but Jesus, in a sense, became God’s enemy when he took on all of our sins on the cross.  We should have been treated as the enemy, but instead Jesus was treated as the enemy.

Only when we understand the horror and depravity of sin do we begin to understand the beauty and the love of the Cross.

Romans 5:3-5

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. -Romans 5:3-5

---

God does not enjoy it when we suffer, but He puts our suffering to good use.  We say that our God is a god of redemption.  The term “redemption” means to take something messed up and then make it good.  That’s what God does with our suffering.  He takes something messed up and the turns it to something that ultimately is good for us.

This passage gives us a little bit of a clue on how God does that.  When we trust God through our suffering, we begin to grow in endurance, in our character, and in ability to hope.  God can actually use the suffering to make us stronger.

Are you going through a difficult time right now?  Do you feel like you are suffering either physically, emotionally, psychologically, academically, relationally, or spiritually?  God wants to redeem your suffering.  He wants to take the horrible thing that is happening to you and turn it for your good.

Will you let Him?